M. Lobao is Professor of Rural Sociology, Sociology, and Geography at the Ohio State University. She is the author of Locality and Inequality: Farm and Industry Structure and Socioeconomic Conditions, also published by SUNY Press, and coauthor (with Paul Lasly, F. Larry Leistritz, and Katherine Meyer) of Beyond the Amber Waves of Grain: An Examination of Social and Economic Restructuring in the Heartland. Gregory Hooks is Profebssor of Sociology and Chair of the Department of Sociology at Washington State University. He is the author of Forging the Military-Industrial Complex: World War II's Battle of the Potomac. Ann R. Tickamyer is Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Ohio University. She is coeditor (with William W. Falk and Michael D. Schulman) of Communities of Work: Rural Restructuring in Local and Global Contexts.

"…makes an important contribution to inequality studies. It is an invitation to further explore the innovative force of a relational theory of space for sociology." — American Journal of Sociology"This collection of first-rate scholarship has the potential to become a classic reference title." — CHOICE"The editors provide the first overview of the state of spatially oriented research on inequality in sociology, which is much larger and encompassing than many people realize, spanning demography, human ecology, urban and community sociology, comparative sociology, as well as stratification." — Leslie McCall, author of Complex Inequality: Gender, Class, and Race in the New Economy"This book is a first of its kind. It brings the scattered literatures together, imposes some badly needed conceptual structure, and provides a variety of applications of spatial inequality research. One need look no further than the introductory chapter to sense the capacity of the writers to synthesize seemingly disparate literatures." — Charles M. Tolbert II, coauthor of Work in the Fast Lane: Flexibility, Divisions of Labor, and Inequality in High-Tech Industries

• Acknowledgments1. Introduction: Advancing the Sociology of Spatial InequalityLinda M. Lobao, Gregory Hooks, and Ann R. TickamyerPART I EXTENDING THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION ACROSS SPACE: CONCEPTUAL AND METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES2. Advancing the Sociology of Spatial Inequality: Spaces, Places, and the Subnational ScaleLinda M. Lobao and Gregory Hooks 3. New and Unexplored Opportunities: Developing a Spatial Perspective for Political SociologyKevin T. Leicht and J. Craig Jenkins4. Territories of Inequality: An Essay on the Measurement and Analysis of Inequality in Grounded Place SettingsMichael D. Irwin PART II STUDIES OF SPATIAL INEQUALITY5. The Spatial Politics of Public Policy: Devolution, Development, and Welfare ReformAnn R. Tickamyer, Julie Anne White, Barry L. Tadlock, and Debra A. Henderson6. Differential Mortality across the United States: The Influence of Place-Based Inequality Diane K. McLaughlin, C. Shannon Stokes, P. Johnelle Smith, and Atsuko Nonoyama7. Placing Family Poverty in Area Contexts: The Use of Multilevel Models in Spatial ResearchDavid A. Cotter, Joan M. Hermsen, and Reeve Vanneman8. Adios Aztlan: Mexican American Out-Migration from the SouthwestRogelio Saenz, Cynthia M. Cready, and Maria Cristina Morales9. A Spatial Analysis of the Urban Landscape: What Accounts for Differences across Neighborhoods?Deirdre A. Oakley and John R. LoganPART III THE SOCIOLOGY OF SPATIAL INEQUALITY: TOWARD A COMMON VISION10.Space for Social Inequality Researchers: A View from GeographyVincent J. Del Casino Jr. and John Paul Jones III 11. Conclusion: Agenda for Moving a Spatial Sociology ForwardGregory Hooks, Linda M. Lobao, and Ann R. TickamyerAbout the Editors and ContributorsIndex